What if the ancient legends are true? That beneath the streets of London lay buried four great treasures. Talismans so powerful they could destroy an empire. October 1864. London isn't what it used to be. Scientific progress has irrevocably chnaged the great city's skyline but in the crumbling alleyways and churchyards old superstitions still hold sway. Prince Albert has been dead for three years and Queen Victoria's deep mourning shows no sign of coming to end. Now rumours are starting to circulate at court. That in her distress the Queen has turned for solace to the most superstitious place of all, the Catholic Church. But as London threatens to erupt in an orgy of religious violence photographer's assistant Ledah Kis has problems of her own. Her elderly uncle is dying. Without his protection Ledah will soon be made homeless unless she can find a way to make some money of her own. When the brutal death of a Catholic priest brings her in to contact with the Detectives of Scotland Yard Ledah has no choice but to offer her skills to the investigation. Vatican inquisitor Adric Peregrinus is tracking a monster. An ancient evil determined to bring down the English crown and ignite a global conflict. A chance encounter with the beautiful Ledah Kiss could be the key to preventing Armageddon, if only he can stop her falling in to the hands of the enemy. Will Adric and Ledah be in time to save the empty throne of England and prevent the destruction of London and can their friendship survive the revelations that await them in the smog-choked streets of the city?

Author D. L. Mackenzie collaborates with Pete Oxley in this steam-powered collaborative writing project. Learn how to improve your stories by following along as we dismantle, examine, and reassemble Pete's steampunk fantasy story concept with the goal of getting it completed and published, with helpful insights from some of Wattpad's best writers.

Lore has built up over the ages about creatures that live in the ocean, creatures of startling beauty, with the upper body of women, and the tails of fish. But what if these creatures were different from what we thought they were? What would happen when one of them needs help? Seeking out the aid of a teenage boy, who is more involved in their world than he knows. When Alex wakes up in the hospital, ranting about a girl and water, he is assured that his hallucinations were a side effect to almost drowning, and he was unconscious for nearly two days. He is released from the hospital, and life seems like it should return to normal...but he's still haunted by his "hallucinations" He still knows what he saw was real. He saw a shadow at the water's edge.

READ my SHORTS! ('cos eating them isn't very tasty) - A collection of very short stories, micro-fiction, one-shots, drabbles, flash-fiction and other random stuff. Call 'em what you will, they're bite size little morsels from the brain of me. Crossing all genres, and of lengths up to about 1000 words.

The Magnetron Chronicles, Volume 1 Phineas Magnetron is an eccentric Nineteenth Century inventor blessed with a strange gift he doesn't completely understand. As a former soldier and current member of the Hogalum Society, an inscrutable secret organization of crime fighting adventurers, Phineas is no stranger to peril and derring-do. But when the Society founder dies, Phineas embarks on a daring and improbable caper to bring the good doctor's greatest dream to fruition posthumously. In the process, he not only horrifies his Society brothers, but unearths a haunting and compelling mystery. About The Magnetron Chronicles: The Magnetron Chronicles is a serialized steampunk tale told in the grandiose style of Jules Verne, but with satirical Twainian wit. Chapter by chapter, the story builds as quirky new characters join the fray and perplexing new mysteries and situations arise. Traveling the globe, Phineas Magnetron and his Hogalum Society encounter suspicious policemen, mentally ill criminals, wood-craving aliens, a witch doctor, a mad oracle, and a cross-dressing female matador, among many others. However, this "steam dream team" always manages to triumph over impossible odds and improbable obstacles as they preserve order in a disorderly world. More information: http://themagnetronchronicles.blogspot.com